The Guard
by KaidaKei
Summary: Naruto is the leader of a small gang but that doesn't stop him from getting beaten up from time to time. Iruka's had enough of all this and decides to hire a personal bodyguard, Itachi Uchiha. Can Itachi keep the blond out of trouble or will his growing affections get in the way? Oneshot. Written for the ItaNaru swap event.


**Kaida-** Hey! This is just a quick oneshot that I had written for the ItaNaru Swap event. I'd just thought I'd post it up here.

**Ted-** Kaida does not own any of the Naruto characters.

**Kaida-** Wow… I didn't even have to ask you to do the disclaimer…

**Ted-** I'm in a pretty good mood

**Kaida-** *shudders* I don't even want to know what could've caused that.

**Ted-** Let's get on to the story, shall we? _*links arms with Kaida and skips away*_

**Kaida-** I'm scared. Enjoy the story!

* * *

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**The Guard**

* * *

"Hello?"

"You require our services?"

Iruka shuddered involuntarily at the raspy voice on the end of the line.

"Yes, please. I need the best person you have."

"Hmm, you realize that our services are a bit… expensive?"

"Yes, but I'm willing to pay any amount."

"Well, as long as you have the money." Iruka's eyes slipped shut as he thought over the horrific week. He was using this as a last resort. He sighed softly and proceeded to answer the man's questions about payment.

"Now, we will need some information about the client. Name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Child of Uzumaki Kushina?" Iruka could hear the slight surprise in his voice.

"Yes, it's true."

"Now this is quite a surprise. Gender?"

"Male."

"Age?

"Sixteen."

"Date of Birth?"

"October 10th."

"Sexual Preference?"

"W-why would you need to know that?" Iruka spluttered, suddenly nervous.

"We just want to select the best person for the job. We wouldn't want to send anyone who could make the client uncomfortable."

Iruka was silent for a moment before muttering "Men, he likes men."

"For how long will our services be required?"

"I want to see if the situation improves before setting an end date."

"Would you be able to send a recent photo to us?"

"Of course, right away."

"We'll call back tomorrow to arrange a date."

Iruka hung up the phone and sunk into a nearby chair, slumping forward. Naruto was not going to like what he did. But then again, he no longer had a say in the matter.

Iruka jumped, startled from the sudden pounding that came through the door.

"Speak of the devil," he mumbled to himself before getting to his feet and shuffling over to the door. As soon as he undid the locks, the door flung open and an orange blur skittered into the house. He watched as Naruto slammed the door shut before turning to face him, his back pressed against the door. His breathing came out in heavy puffs of air. Iruka looked him over and frowned at what he saw. There was already a new bruise forming on his right cheek, covering up half of the three whisker-like scars. Up and down his arms were little red cuts, presumably from barely avoided pocketknives.

Iruka's eyes traveled back to Naruto's face and took in the dazed look in his eyes. He reached up softy and caressed Naruto's cheek, snapping him out of his trance. Naruto gave Iruka a big grin, though the tired look in his eyes gave him away.

The older man grabbed Naruto's hand and led him into the chair he was sitting in a few minutes ago. Grabbing a medical kit, he knelt down in front of him and started patching him up. Naruto hissed as Iruka dabbed at some of his cuts.

"Naruto," Iruka warned, "You said you could handle this. I don't like seeing you-"

"I'm fine," Naruto replied in a cold tone, "Don't worry about me."

"I have to worry… so I took matters into my own hands."

"… What?"

* * *

Orochimaru folded his hands under his chin and smirked. This client was going to be interesting to watch. He didn't know that Kushina's child was still living. '_And for sixteen years now._'

Orochimaru leaned forward, pushed a button on his intercom, and called for his secretary.

"Karin?"

"Yes, Orichimaru?"

"Send Uchiha to my office. I have an… interesting job for him." Orochimaru could hear the surprise in Karin's reply.

"Of course, sir. Anything else?"

"Ah yes, Karin?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Make sure to tell him that he might need to study up on his knowledge of… legendary gangs in the area."

"Yes sir."

And with that, Karin clicked off. The snake-like man sat back in his chair, mulling over the situation. _'Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze. I wonder if Tsunade was aware of this.'_ Orochimaru's eyes narrowed as he thought of who else could be keeping this secret_. 'No doubt that Jiraiya would be one of them. Maybe he'd fancy a little visit from an old friend.'_ He smirked to himself before rising out of his seat. He called for Karin to get a car ready for him and that he would be out for awhile.

"Oh, and tell Itachi that the file of the client will be waiting in his mailbox and that he is to report back to my office tomorrow morning." Orochimaru shrugged on a coat and shuffled out the door. _'This should be good.'_

* * *

"I can't believe you!" The blonde teenager glared angrily at his guardian then stomped down the hall to his room. He knew Iruka was acting weird yesterday after he got home but what he actually did was ridiculous.

"It's for your own good! Besides, you can't stop it now. He'll be here in about ten minutes." Naruto whirled around to face the man, looking furious.

"I can take care of myself, Iruka!"

"Yeah, just like you did yesterday when you came home with bruises all over your body," Iruka grabbed Naruto's arm and stared intently into his eyes. "This has been going on for the past three years and the only reason I have not done this sooner is because you've constantly assured me that you were alright. I am your guardian and you are going to abide to my decision, okay?" There was a pregnant silence as the two stood there, glaring at each other. Finally, Naruto sighed and looked down.

"Fine," he muttered, a forlorn look plastered on his face. Iruka's stern posture immediately melted away and he knelt down in front of Naruto, forcing the blond to look at him.

"Naruto, you know I love you and I hate to see you hurt. You know you can't handle this on your own so let me do what I can to help." The young boy nodded and gave Iruka a weak smile which Iruka returned gladly.

Suddenly, the bell rang, startling both Iruka and Naruto.

"That must be him," Iruka shot a pointedly look at Naruto, "Be good and don't you dare run away." The blonde let out a huff, stalked over to the couch and flopped down tiredly onto it. He didn't want to see who was at the door for he was already sure the person would make his life a living hell. Naruto heard the door creak open and closed his eyes, letting his head drop back onto the arm of the couch_. 'Maybe, just maybe, it'll be Sakura stopping by for a short visit.' _ He thought hopefully.

"Hello, pleasure to meet you. I am Itachi Uchiha of The Hebi Corporation."

_Oh, this is not going to go well.'_

* * *

Itachi Uchiha hated petty assignments and his boss, Orochimaru, knew that. That's why he was only recommended for the more… fascinating clients. He was skeptical at first but Itachi had to admit that, by just a glimpse into the boy's life, this was no ordinary assignment. First off, the boy, Naruto Uzumaki, was the secret love child of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, both the renowned (not to mention deceased) leaders of two rival gangs: The Uzumaki clan and Konohagakure.

The two were rumored to have fallen in love during an all out war between their groups. Witnesses say that their style of fighting matched perfectly and, although they fought tirelessly, it seemed that neither intended to hurt the other. After the fight ended, with little injuries on both sides, Kushina and Minato simultaneously renounced their leader status and disappeared.

About a year later, they turned back up with a small child. They were hoping that this child would end the fighting between their two gangs. Unfortunately, that plan backfired horribly when the two leaders were found shot to death in their home, more specifically in their newly furnished nursery, and their baby missing. Most assumed that their child was dead but some original crew members never ceased their search.

'_How has this kid been hiding all this years with no one knowing?' _Itachi wondered to himself as he pulled up to the apartment complex. He opened the file sitting in the passenger's seat and confirmed the address before sliding out of his small black car. He was dressed as inconspicuously as he could. To any passerby, he'd be seen as a regular visitor.

Itachi climbed up on flight of stairs before stopping right in front of a door. He was about to know when yelling drifting through the thin wood of the door. It faded in and out but he could still catch bits and pieces of the argument.

"… be here in ten minutes!" Itachi assumed that was Iruka, their employer. His voice sounded stern but still had evidence of concern.

"I can take care of myself…" And that must be his assignment… Itachi sighed. He was hoping he'd be somewhat an easy boy to handle but the rambunctious tone told him otherwise. Instead of knocking, Itachi now opted to ring the doorbell, in case the argument got too heated and they wouldn't hear him. There was silence before the door was unlocked and opened. Before him stood a man, almost as tall as him, with a scar just above his nose. He smiled warmly at Itachi who nodded in response.

""Hello, pleasure to meet you. I am Itachi Uchiha of The Hebi Corporation."

"Hello, I'm-"

"Iruka Umino… I've studied up on you." Iruka stared at him with wide eyes before chuckling nervously.

"That shouldn't be surprising. Please come in." Iruka stepped aside and ushered Itachi in. He stepped through the doorway and glanced quickly around the room, taking in the semi-cluttered room. His eyes settle on a young boy stretched across the nearby couch, eyes shut. Iruka hurried over to the couch and shook the boy who seemed to have dozed off. He sat up on the couch and immediately shot a glare at Itachi. Itachi just stared back stoically.

"Naruto, this is Itachi. He's going to be your bodyguard." Angry blue eyes flickered over to Iruka and nodded. "He'll be going undercover at your school. You mustn't tell anyone of his presence." Naruto suddenly looked stricken.

"At school too? But I have no problem there!"

"The deal is that he watches over you at all time. Besides, I don't know what goes on at that school. Tsunade may run it but she can't be there at all times." Naruto fell back onto the couch with a groan.

"I can't tell anyone? You know I have to tell the gang. I can't keep anything from them. They know me better than I know myself."

"Fine, but tell them that this must remain secret." Naruto looked over at Itachi. He had been watching the exchange quietly.

Naruto couldn't help but notice how handsome Itachi was. He had really long, sleek dark hair that hung in a loose ponytail and nice build. But what capture his attention most was his coal black eyes. The intensity of Itachi's eyes suddenly clashed with his own as Itachi gazed at him. Naruto looked away, a slight blush coloring his cheeks.

"He taking the spare room?" Naruto asked Iruka, motioning to the bodyguard.

"Yeah, go lay out some sheets on the bed and try to tidy it up a bit." Naruto was about to protest but quieted down at one glare from the scarred man. There was a small silence as the two men watched Naruto leave the room.

"He's like an exact clone of Minato," commented Itachi. Iruka turned to him, surprised.

"You knew Minato?"

"I used to see him when my family was still living in this neighborhood. He never seemed evil to me yet I hear all these bloody tales about him and Konoha."

Suddenly, a loud thump sounded down the hall. Iruka jumped before scurrying down the halls, Itachi right behind him. Near the closet in the spare room was a huge pile of bed sheets… with an arm sticking out from under it. Itachi sighed before entering the room and lifting the small arm. He gave a quick tug and Naruto came sliding from out under the sheets, sputtering.

"Man, is there ever a good time to be this short?" Itachi stared at the young boy sprawled on the floor and chuckled. He picked up the pile of sheets and dropped them onto the bed. He turned back to Iruka and Naruto.

"I'll take care of it from here. You two get some sleep. There'll be a lot of things to do at the school tomorrow morning."

Naruto frowned at Itachi's statement. He expected this bodyguard to be less… kind? Naruto gazed at Itachi as he started to spread his sheets. Naruto walked up to the other side of the bed and took one end of the sheet. Itachi looked up at him, eyebrow raised.

"We might as well get along since you're not going anywhere until Iruka deems me safe…" Naruto blushed faintly before mumbling "… and thanks for helping me…"

Itachi let out another chuckle and smirked at the blonde. '_This was going to be fun.'_

* * *

The blonde gang leader (not by choice) slumped down into his seat the table full of chattering people. Most of them just flashed him a smile before returning to their conversation, not paying him any concern, which was good because the last thing Naruto wanted to do was send his "followers" into a frenzy. He jabbed a fork into a part of his food before glancing at the seven other people who were seated.

Sakura, one of his first and best friends, was at the far end of the table bickering with Ino, a childhood friend of Sakura's. As usual, it was argument over some huge popstar. _Now that Sasuke's gone',_ Naruto grimaced, '_They've started to focus on other things_.'

As much as he hated fighting, Naruto was glad Sakura and Ino didn't defect to the other side with Sasuke, for they were a great asset to the team. Sakura was the best aspiring medical student around here. She always patched up the gang after major battles but her insane strength helped her widely whenever she joined in the fighting.

Ino was their reconnaissance master. Her abilities at obtaining information were indescribable, bar none. She was the one who helped find out what Sasuke was planning to do.

Next to Ino sat Choji who was promptly shoveling food into his open mouth. His strong build took up most of the bench he was sitting on, making it sag a bit. Choji's job was really very simple. He was used mostly in interrogations, which was rare, to knock some fear into people. His strong and hulking build scared off any wimps looking for a fight.

Shikamaru was asleep at the end of the sagging bench while Shino was seated on the next bench, reading a small book on insects. Both of them used their knowledge to create strategies for any ambush or surprise situations. Believe it or not, being in a gang around here meant serious business. There were sometimes enemy gangs waiting, ready to jump any one of them. So Shikamaru and Shino came up with what they should do to ensure their safety.

Sitting on one side of Naruto was Kiba, his right hand man, and his girlfriend, Hinata. Hinata helped Sakura in the medical department but was very skilled in hand to hand combat. She could block almost any hit coming her way. Her aim, however, wasn't very good.

Kiba was like his second in command. Naruto trusted him completely with almost anything and everything. The dog-like boy was a ferocious fighter and had the same determination as Naruto when they fought together.

Neji, Lee and TenTen, the last three of their group, were away on a junior school trip, since they were one year older than the rest of them. All together, they were the Konoha 11. The name of the group was based on his father's gang.

Naruto sighed, slightly relieved that Neji wasn't there. He'd be the first one to notice his uneasiness…

"Oi, Naruto! What's wrong with you?"

… And the second would be Kiba.

Naruto jabbed at his food once more and sighed again.

"Iruka's gone off the deep end." At the sound of their leader's tone, everyone began to quiet down. Naruto gave the table a dark look.

"He hired me a bodyguard…" At once, the entire table exploded into complaints, save for the stoic Shino and drowsy Shikamaru. Kiba was the loudest of them all.

"He what?" he exclaimed.

"He doesn't think I'm taking good care of myself."

Ino let out a frustrated grunt.

"But we're here. Doesn't he think we can protect our own leader?"

"You guys can't protect me all the time. And I'm not even that much of a leader. I don't even like to fight!"

"Liar," the now fully awake Shikamaru accused. "You enjoy fighting but you just won't admit it. You love it; it's in your blood."

"Yeah, you used to fight with Sasuke almost every day," Sakura pointed out. Naruto winced at the taboo name and shrugged.

"But that was when we were friends."

'_When we were actually on the same side,' _he thought angrily to himself. Sasuke was his former right-hand man. But he became jealous of the fact that Naruto, a "dead last", was in charge. And then, after the battle with the Sand ended with Naruto defeating Gaara when Sasuke had failed, he snapped and attacked Naruto. The battle was brutal but Sasuke came out unscathed and left Naruto bleeding profusely as a knife was buried to the hilt in his chest. The wound had scarred him emotionally more so than physically.

"And now?" questioned Shino.

"He's the enemy. He's a complete stranger to me."

"Make sure you clean up after yourselves. It makes my job easier." Everyone looked up to see a young man stand behind Naruto in a simple shirt and jeans. He lightly gripped a long broom in his hands. Ino and Sakura immediately swooned over the good-looking man. Shikamaru noted that, though the man seemed to be friendly, his eyes were cold and calculating. '_He's searching for any threat. I can only assume that this is-'_

"Hello, I'm Itachi," the man said, nodding at everyone, "I'm the school's new janitor." Naruto slumped in his seat and frowned.

"He's also my new bodyguard."

* * *

The rest of the day went by pretty fast for Naruto. Actually, it was going too fast for his liking. Now Naruto hated school as much as the next person, but throughout the day, he couldn't shake this feeling that someone was watching him.

"Probably Itachi," he muttered to himself as he sat in his last class. The guard, so far, had turned up almost everywhere. '_Well, it is his job,'_ he mused. '_But that doesn't mean he has to be all stalkerish.'_

The bell let out a shrill ring, startling Naruto out of his thoughts. He packed his books and headed out the door catching up with Kiba by his locker.

"So, where are we heading today?" he asked. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Where else? Ichiraku, of course!" After they found out that Naruto didn't eat much at home, despite all that Iruka bought him, the gang made it a point to go out to eat afterschool whenever they could. They always took turns to pick and, today, it was Naruto's turn. He usually picked the same place every time: Ichiraku ramen stand.

The two boys met up with the rest of the group and bustled out the front door with Itachi following a closely behind them, observing the teenagers. '_He looks much younger like this,_' he thought as he watched Naruto joke around with Kiba. Naruto let out a bark of laughter before flicking his bangs out of his eyes, drawing Itachi's attention to his hair._ '… and feminine.' _ He couldn't remember Minato Namikaze looking as womanly as this so Naruto must get his structure from Kushina. '_But those blue eyes are definitely Minato's. Same color, same drive._' Now all Itachi wanted to see if he could fight as well as either of his parents.

He always took it upon himself to study the different fighting styles, often using a mixture of what he's learned when fighting others.

"I heard Naruto say that he was treating all of us!" announced Ino. Naruto face grew confused as the entire group cheered.

"Man, Naruto. I always knew you'd pull through for us someday," Kiba commented, slapping the blond on his back. Naruto stumbled forward before glaring at Kiba.

"You guys better be glad that Gama-chan is full today." Another round of cheers went up before the group's chattering died down and turned the corner.

Suddenly, Itachi's ears picked up a suspicious noise. It sounded like a trashcan being pushed to the side. He narrowed his eyes and surveyed their surroundings. They were walking down an empty street with apartments along the road. There were many alley passages so he'd have to be on the alert. His eyes swept over Naruto's body, looking for any indication that he'd heard the sound.

Naruto's posture had stiffened and had slowed his pace. The others, save for Kiba, didn't seem to notice anything. Suddenly, the blond relaxed and pushed his shoulders back before brushing off his left shoulder. At this one gesture, the entire group became more attentive but carried on as if they were unaware.

Just then, another rustling sounded as they passed a wide, empty alleyway. The group stopped and peered into the suspiciously dark passage. A loud bang rang out and a trashcan came rolling out. Itachi was about to move forward and check out the place when a huge body hurled itself out of the alley and straight towards his charge, aiming to knock Naruto out with one punch. _'Damn,'_ Itachi thought to himself and pushed forward only to be stopped by Choji, holding his arm with a strong grip.

Itachi looked on in mute surprise as Naruto intercepted the punch with his palm, his small hand dwarfed by the large fist. The guard could almost feel Naruto's smirk on his lips. The stranger growled and lifted his other fist, probably wanting to bash Naruto's head in, but Kiba was quicker. He ducked under Naruto's arm and swung his leg into the air, smashing it into the stranger's mouth. The massive man stumbled back, dazed.

"Just give it up, already. You know Juugo already gave away your presence." Naruto's mocking tone bounced off the alley walls.

"Idiot, what makes you think I was hiding from you." Itachi's eyebrows shot up in recognition of the voice and he stepped back carefully behind Choji, concealing himself.

Naruto's expression grew serious. "What do you want, Sasuke?"

"How long has it been again Naruto… since we fought?" Kiba let out a loud growl at Sasuke's question, clenching his fist warningly.

"Don't even think about it, mutt," a white haired teen, Suigetsu, stepped from behind Sasuke. "We're not here to fight the rest of your pathetic group."

"I've been wanting to see how… strong you've gotten, Naruto," Sasuke drawled. Naruto glared and shrugged at the raven haired boy.

"I'm the same as before, nothing has changed." Honestly, Naruto had been busting his butt for something like this to happen. Naruto was against fighting but when it came down to Sasuke and his team, Taka, he made exceptions.

"Really? Then I hope you don't mind if I show you a demo of how much stronger I've gotten."

Naruto looked back towards the group who looked back at him with solemn looks. _Where the heck is that bodyguard when you need him?'_ Naruto thought as he searched for Itachi. When he had failed to find the man, he sighed and nodded at Sasuke. And with that, the fight began.

Itachi could not tear his eyes from the battle. Neither boy seemed to be able to land a solid hit on the other. Itachi had, however, noticed that Naruto seemed to be doing most of the blocking while Sasuke was throwing punch and kick after punch and kick.

Although he didn't show it, Itachi could tell that Sasuke was getting frustrated with each blocked attack. Naruto hadn't even thrown a single punch! '_But,'_ Itachi thought_, 'His footwork is more graceful than usual.' _ Naruto was dancing around Sasuke, gliding across the sidewalk in the nick of time to dodge Sasuke's punches.

Suddenly, the roles changed. Naruto threw his first punch and it came close it planting itself right into Sasuke's cheek. The gang, who had been silent for most of the fight, erupted into cheers once they saw that they're leader was fighting back.

Naruto punched at Sasuke again before throwing a quick kick. Sasuke hadn't expected that and the kick nicked him right on his upper lip. Snarling, Sasuke threw back some more punches but Naruto just evaded them. Finally, Naruto swung his right first and connected harshly with Sasuke's pale cheek. Sasuke stumbled back, reaching a hand to lightly touch his cheek. Fierce obsidian eyes met with angry blue ones.

Sasuke had reached his boiling point, Itachi could tell. He nudged Choji out of the way only to see Sasuke pull out a knife. The weapon glinted dangerously in the setting sun. Sasuke twisted it in his palm a bit before lunging at Naruto. Itachi pushed forward and grabbed Sasuke's arm and yanked it back. He squeezed Sasuke's fingers causing him to drop the knife he was holding. Naruto quickly swept it up, staring at Sasuke with wide eyes.

"You coward, you were going to use a knife on me again?" Naruto spat but Sasuke wasn't paying attention to him. He was turned towards the bodyguard that was holding his arm in the air.

"Itachi," Sasuke whispered, glaring into the identical black eyes of his older brother. "Why the hell are you back here?"

"Do NOT attack my charge like that." Itachi motioned to Naruto who was breathing harshly.

"Your charge?"

"I'm his bodyguard," Itachi replied shortly, dropping Sasuke's hand and shifting back over to Naruto. Sasuke looked bewildered.

"Bodyguard? Now that's what I would call pathetic!" Suigetsu sneered. Before anyone could retort, a high-pitched whistle filled the air.

"Aw, man. That means Officer Ebisu isn't that far behind," complained Sakura. Sasuke spat blood onto the pavement and turned away from Naruto.

"We'll finish this another time," he said then turned to Itachi, "Whatever you're really here for, I suggest you hurry it up and leave. I don't want you here."

"Since when has it been about what you want?" Kiba muttered, scowling at the raven haired boy. Sasuke motioned to his group to follow him and disappeared into the shadows of the alley way.

The gang was motionless until another whistle rose up again, this time even closer. This was soon followed by loud sirens. The group groaned, exasperated. Ebisu had brought his cop buddies with him.

"Well, I guess dinner is now out of the question. Everyone get home, we'll meet up again tomorrow," decided their blond leader.

"You're still paying," Sakura reminded as she grabbed Ino and ran off in the direction they came from. Soon, everyone began to scatter, going their separate ways, until it was only Naruto and Itachi left.

"Thanks again," Naruto mumbled, shoving his hands into his pocket.

"It is my job," Itachi replied nonchalantly. "You know, you may look like your parents but you're completely different from them." He shouldn't be doing this. He shouldn't even be on the topic but he wanted to see Naruto's reaction. The blond looked up at him with bewildered eyes.

"You knew my parents?" he whispered.

"I used to watch them fight other gangs. I wasn't there when they fought with each other, though."

"How…" Naruto trailed off, "Did they ever…" Itachi stared at him expectantly as Naruto gulped audibly and looked down. "Did they even want me?" Itachi nodded. He grabbed the smaller boy's chin and forced him to look him in the eyes.

"I'm sure they did. They loved each other and they loved you even more." Naruto gazed into Itachi eyes, searching for any hint of a joke.

Rapid footsteps sounded abruptly against the pavement behind them. '_Aw man, we waited for too long.'_

Itachi sighed and grabbed Naruto's arm, pulling him along as he started running. Aside from a slight stumble here and there, the blond was able to keep up with him. Itachi would never be able to show his face again if he was stupid enough to get caught by the police while on the job. It was… unprofessional… and down-right embarrassing.

"We're going the wrong way. If we continue down here, we'll just meet a dead-end," Naruto warned, stumbling a bit.

"Don't worry about that. Just try and keep up," the guard replied. He smirked when he spotted a narrow and dark passage between two buildings. He swerved to the left and shoved Naruto, sideways, into it before slipping inside himself. They shimmied down the passage until they were sure they wouldn't be spotted. Itachi almost chuckled at their current position. They were pressed chest to chest, well more like chest to face, in the tight space. The only sound was Naruto's tired breathing from running.

'_Even in the dark, his eyes are painfully bright,' _he thought, observing the younger boy's face.

"They ran down this way! Let's get a move on!" More footsteps echoed past the passageway, signaling that the officers had not seen them. It only took a while for the steps to fade away.

Naruto let out a relieved breath and smiled softly at Itachi. Itachi couldn't help but return that smile with a small one of his own. He wasn't supposed to be smiling at him. He was only there to make sure he's safe, nothing more. But still…

"Itachi…" Naruto whispered.

… Itachi felt very warm… around him…

"Naruto?"

… he was starting to like this boy…

"How the heck are we going to get of-"

Itachi swooped down and captured his lips into a small kiss.

* * *

Naruto sighed happily when he entered the bathroom shower. Turns out where they had been hiding was filthy with dirt and God knows what. And soon after they escaped from there, it began drizzling, which did nothing for their dirty clothes. So you can imagine how pissed Iruka had been when they showed up late and dripping dirty water all over the place. Naruto had let Itachi shower first, still in shock over what had happened. He touched his lips and blushed fiercely.

Itachi had kissed him… and he had kissed back. At first, Naruto was shocked into silence but the warmth of Itachi's lips was too irresistible and he had deepened the kiss. As awkward as the position had been, Naruto was became completely comfortable at that moment. It was only when Naruto had let out a soft whimper that Itachi must've realized what he was doing because he pulled away and stared at Naruto with wide eyes. Naruto had to admit, he was hurt but he accepted that what happened must've been a mistake

He stepped out of the shower, turning off the water, and hurriedly put on some pajamas. He wasn't planning on eating dinner and just wanted to get to bed. Drying his hair with his orange towel, Naruto stepped into his room… only to find Itachi standing there, admiring a large poster of a band he liked. The guard turned to him, his eyes quickly looking Naruto up and down, and sighed.

"We have to talk," he said. Naruto winced at the statement and looked away.

"There's nothing to talk about," he retorted, "It was a stupid accident. Let's just… forget about it." Naruto stepped past Itachi, heading towards his bed, ready to just flop down on it and let his dreams wash everything away. As he passed, Itachi grabbed his arm and pulled him back, spinning the blonde around to face him.

"That's the thing," Itachi murmured, "I can't forget it." The warm palm of his hand rested against Naruto's scarred cheeks.

"This is wrong…"

"I know, I'm supposed to be protecting you. I'm not supposed to be emotionally involved."

"And yet…?" Naruto asked, staring up at Itachi.

"I can't help but want you." Itachi pulled Naruto close to him and swooped down to kiss his lips again. Naruto immediately kissed back and wrapped his arms around Itachi's neck. As they kissed, there was a small voice at the back of Naruto's mind, warning him against the danger this could pose. But he didn't care. They'd make this work somehow.

* * *

**Ted-** Come back, Kaida _*revs up chainsaw_* I just want to give you a hug!

**Kaida-** *_runs away_* I didn't mean to drink the last orange soda. Calm your tits!

**Ted-** What the heck is that supposed to mean?_*sighs* _I hope you've enjoyed this story. Any grammatical or spelling errors you find, report it to Kaida! _*waves chainsaw around*_ Don't you even try to escape to your yaoi shrine! I will shred everything in there!


End file.
